Pal Kadosa
Pal Kadosa was born as Pal Veisz on 6 September 1903 in Levice (then part of Austria-Hungary, today Slovakia). He lost his father at an early age and spent his childhood living with his grandparents in Trnava, where he first began to study piano privately. In 1918, at the age of fifteen, he and his family moved to Budapest. There Pal Kadosa initially took piano lessons with Pal Ilona. In 1921 he enrolled at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he studied piano with Arnold Szekely and Lili Keleti, chamber music with Leo Weiner and composition with Zoltan Kodaly. During his academy years he also pursued interests outside music in painting and drawing and was part of artistic and literary circles in Budapest. He completed his diploma at the Academy in 1927.
Shortly after finishing his studies Pal Kadosa began teaching. In 1927 he was appointed to the faculty of the Fodor Music School in Budapest, where he taught piano until 1943. During this period he was also active in the Hungarian music scene: he was a founding member in 1928 of the group Modern Magyar Muzsikusok (Modern Hungarian Musicians) and from 1932 an important figure in the Új Magyar Zeneegyesület (New Hungarian Music Society).
With the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany and the outbreak of World War II the professional situation for Pal Kadosa changed dramatically. In 1943 he was forced out of his teaching position because of anti-Jewish laws and taught briefly at the Goldmark Music School in 1943–1944.
After the war Pal Kadosa joined the faculty of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music as a teacher of piano. Over the following decades he became one of the most influential piano teachers in Hungary. He served as head of the piano department from 1948 until his death in 1983. Many of his students became internationally renowned musicians, including György Ligeti, György Kurtag, Ivan Erőd, Andras Schiff and Zoltan Kocsis.
In addition to his pedagogical work Pal Kadosa held important roles in Hungarian musical institutions in the post-war years. From 1945 to 1949 he served as Deputy President of the Hungarian Arts Council (Művelődési Tanács), and after 1949 he was a member of the committee of the Hungarian Composers’ Association (Magyar Zeneszerző Egyesülete). From 1953 until 1983 he was president of the Hungarian copyright protection organization Artisjus (Szerzői Jogvédő Hivatal). He also served on the Hungarian Arts Council and became an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Pal Kadosa was also a prolific composer. His output included eight symphonies, four sonatas, six concertos, two operas, chamber and piano works, choral compositions, and music for film and radio.
Throughout his career he received a number of official honors in Hungary. He was awarded the Kossuth Prize twice, in 1950 and 1975; received the title Merited Artist in 1953; and was named Honored Artist in 1963. He also won the Erkel Ferenc Prize twice, in 1955 and 1962.
Pal Kadosa died on 30 March 1983 in Budapest (Hungary).
In my possession are several autograph manuscript of Pal Kadosa:
- Viragzas, for organ (in two versions)
- Ajánlás, for organ
- Kodaly Zoltannak, for piano
- Megérett a cseresznye, for voice and piano (text by Josef Remenyi)
